Ira Levin was
twenty-two when he wrote his first novel, the award-winning 1953
thriller A Kiss Before Dying. He followed it with his first play,
the hit adaptation of Mac Hyman's No Time for Sergeants. Both
were adapted for the screen, launching a career of over fifty
years that was characterized by equal success as both a novelist
and playwright. Levin's plays include the comedy hit Critic's
Choice, the musical Drat! The Cat! (which yielded the Streisand
classic He Touched Me), and Deathtrap ­ the longest-running
thriller in Broadway history. His iconic novels include Rosemary's
Baby, The Boys from Brazil, and The Stepford Wives (the latter
coining a new adjective). A native New Yorker and graduate of
the Horace Mann School and New York University, Levin was the
recipient of three Edgar Allan Poe Awards, and served on the
council of the Dramatists Guild until his death in 2007.